10 fresh hop beers Portland bartenders say you should try right now

Seems like only yesterday we were watching waterfalls of green cascading through our Instagram feed as the 2018 harvest of fresh hop cones piled up.

But now the fresh hop season is racing past, with only weeks to go before we return to our regular programming. There's still time, though, to get out there and drink up the seasonal offerings brewers have been madly making for the past month.

For the uninitiated, fresh hop beers are brewed using whole hop cones – the flower from a hop vine -- immediately after the harvest, unlike traditional beers, which used pellets made from dried hops that can last for a few years.

The results can be intense -- and not for all palates: Brighter, fresher, and more floral and herby notes bring out the hops' character without the degree of bitterness you'll find in traditional beers, especially IPAs.

So we did some legwork for you and surveyed beer bartenders at 10 of the Portland area's best taprooms. Here are their picks from among the fresh hop beers they will be pouring Friday, as your weekend commences. You're welcome.

Susan Luoma, Belmont Station: Way Two Fresh IIPA

The bar manager at Southeast Portland's Belmont Station will be pouring two version of the collaboration fresh hop double IPA: one by Crux Fermentation Project of Bend and the other by Bale Breaker Brewing of Yakima, Washington. Added bonus: Belmont Station will hold a release party Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. for the tapping featuring representatives from the breweries.

The general manager at Northwest Portland's The Civic Taproom & Bottle Shop near Providence Park will be pouring Breakside Brewing's New England IPA -- one of 10 fresh hop beers the acclaimed brewery will make this season.